Right now, it feels like the world has been turned upside down (and just like that, the song from Hamilton is playing in your head). That’s why it’s good to know that some things never change. Cause Camp was virtual again this spring, but thanks to a revolutionary platform and the A-game of our all-star speakers, attendees walked away with new networking connections, ideas and insights to help them do more good.
There was no thematic direction for this lineup other than to speak on a trending topic for nonprofit pros. That said, the overwhelming theme that emerged from the day was a drive for attendees to think bigger. Whether it was Tammy Charles pushing us to build powerful corporate partnerships or Bill McKendry providing a detailed list of ways our organizations could make a leap forward, we all left feeling inspired to crush our goals in 2021.
Here are some of our favorite highlights from Cause Camp:
Tammy Charles | How to Create Winning Corporate Partnerships
Tammy threw the traditional partnership model out like it was day-old takeout. Her presentation focused on a greater vision where shared value was created through mutually beneficial relationships that solve social problems.
“Shared value is based on the idea that social problems determine the bottom line in ways that most businesses have overlooked,” Tammy told us. “Rather than forcing a trade-off between making money and doing good, shared value encourages business innovations that increase profits by contributing to social progress.”
Peter Ross | How to Measure the ROI of Your Marketing Strategies
Peter focused on the data behind the driving force of our organizations: supporters. With a keen focus on return on investment (ROI) and key performance indicators (KPI), he helped us examine four areas that are relevant to every modern nonprofit:
- Cost per Visitor (CPV)
- Web-to-Lead Conversion Rate
- Lead-to-Sale Conversion Rate
- Lifetime Value (LTV)
If you’ve ever felt like your organization uses a shotgun approach to shoot for the stars and aim later, this session was for you. Helpful insights on ADA Compliance, Google Analytics and organic SEO were also made clear and understandable through Peter’s segment.
Bill McKendry | 7 Small Steps to Take a Giant Leap Forward
The days of press releases may be over, but that’s ok…we can become media channels. Bill walked us through seven different perspectives organizations can use to further their mission using traditional media plus new channels. Takeaways ranged from “controlling the controllables” to helping nonprofit pros understand how traditional media tools like television and radio can be more impactful than ever.
Ultimately, Bill helped focus on the bigger picture rather than using tired tactics that keep us majoring in the minors.
Cierra Selby | Kickstart Your Organization’s Internal Communications Strategy
Marketer-turned-communicator Cierra Selby showed us how our internal communications can help develop and protect our brand and our mission. Her focus on going behind the curtain of internal communications demonstrated how “different people speak different languages when they are experiencing work at different corners of the organization.” Layering advocacy, strategy, dealing with barriers and some go-to techniques, Cierra laid out a plan for all of us to build powerful brands from the inside out.
Maryanne Dersch | Making it Stick: How to Get New Ideas into Action
Do you love to buy and hate to be sold to? Yeah…us, too. Maryanne walked through the magic of getting ideas to stick by teaching us to develop influence by “creating the pull.” “Influence is getting people you have no authority over to do what you want them to do,” she said. “When you have influence you can easily access what you need.” The perfect recap of a day full of new ideas and techniques to take our missions and our marketing to the next level!
A heartfelt thank you to our emcee, Julia Campbell.
When you think of an emcee, you may imagine a self-deprecating awards show host or a personality behind a mic mispronouncing names and shuffling note cards. Not with Julia. Julia is from the nonprofit sector and she is for the nonprofit sector. Her guidance through the day pulled out highlights, clarified questions, and recapped each session with style. She also shared her own wisdom and inspiration for attendees, of which we’ve included a taste:
“There are reasons to hope…We are seeing the way out of this long and dark tunnel that was the pandemic. We have to ask ourselves, what does this all mean for us? Where do we go from here? I do believe that from discomfort comes opportunity. And I think there is still so much to be done, and that is what today is about. You came to Cause Camp today, you signed up, you enrolled, because you’re a leader. Because you stepped up to learn, to network, to learn skills that enable you to make a bigger impact, you’re a leader. Leadership means challenges, being uncomfortable, making hard decisions…not knowing what is next and doing the hard work anyways.”
Julia closed this segment by quoting Alice Walker, “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” We couldn’t agree more.
If you missed Cause Camp Spring you can check out the recordings with a membership to the Cause Network. Also, watch out for Cause Camp Fall dates being announced soon!
